Almost Famous?

There is a great line in the Cameron Crowe film Almost Famous when the fledgling writer at the film’s center is struggling to get his story about a rising band manageable and on paper.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman, playing writer Lester Bangs, tells him to tell his editor:

“Tell him…you know, it’s a– it’s a think-piece…about a mid-level band…struggling with their own limitations…in the, you know, harsh face of stardom.”

The idea being that this would be catnip for an editor and buy him some time to get his act together.

I can’t help but think of this line when I hear people describing and pitching education technology initiatives.  “It’s tech-enabled, engaging, and completely customized with gaming elements and productivity enhancing.” That’s like catnip for the tech crowd…

5 Replies to “Almost Famous?”

  1. You’re right about that, and I think we’re on the same page here, but just like anything else the devil’s in the implementation details. Throw a bunch of smart boards in a school and nothing will happen, but a carefully planned and executed tech implementation (like the one seen in Rocketship out west or at School of One) can work wonders. The problem then is sorting out the bad from the good and getting districts to start doing their homework before dropping precious funding on products without a track record.

  2. THis has been several times in Prince George’s County Public Schools.
    Many years ago, Dr. Hornsby, convicted felon, pushed for LeapFrog in PGCPS. Schools got the pads, then people decided how they were going to use them.
    This was repeated with interactive whiteboards. All Title 1 school classrooms got them, and now, a few years later, the Title 1 office is going around to see that they get used.
    Currently, 4 middle schools are getting iPads for the students. But this time, there seems to be a plan in place before they put them to use.

  3. The iPad implementation isn’t as rosy as you think. Very little training, just the assumption that it’ll be a panacea and everyone will immmediately know what to do.

  4. PGTeacher,
    I’m not surprised.
    One school has a media specialist involved in writing lesson plans, but they won’t buy her an iPad.
    Another teacher received the iPad.
    No cables, etc.

    The seems to be a plan in place comes from a discussion with people pushing the program who acknowledged the failure of the LeapPad program (the best of that program was that it led to Andre Hornsby’s downfall.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.